News from the Safety Industry

Day 2 of Safety 2017 was a lot of fun. Attendees were settled into the schedule and flowed from session to session. The general session was again informative and inspiring, as was the plenary town hall.

Safety 2017 opened with record participant attendance, record vendor presence and plenty of inspiration for our profession. I have attended many of these conference over my 30 years in OSH and I come away enriched each time. This time, however, it feels different. It feels like our profession is hit [...]

The word discipline is often associated with punishment. As a result, its use in response to safety violations has been highly debated. Safety 2017 presenters Mike McCarroll and Michael Belcher outlined issues organizations must understand before using discipline and recommended three steps to make [...]

In his session on Tuesday, June 20, David Maxfield of Safety VitalSmarts, four viruses that can infect culture and prevent effective performance and inhibit change: resistance, silence, collusion and cynicism.

Judy Agnew, Ph.D., talked to Safety 2017 attendees about proactive ways to help frontline supervisors succeed in safety. Agnew is senior vice president of safety solutions for Aubrey Daniels International. Frontline supervisors have a crucial role in workplace safety. “Frontline supervision is where [...]

On Tuesday, June 20 at Safety 2017, I moderated a panel of four speakers that included *only* one safety professional! The topic of heat illness has been high priority for many years, especially with specific guidance from Cal/OSHA on what employers are required to have in place. Alhough most sessio [...]

ASSE's Safety 2017 conference is unique in the breadth and depth of topics it presents. Take the session delivered on Tuesday, June 20, by Cynthia Braun, CSP, CHMM, CET. Braun delved into the unique hazards encountered in homeless encampments and urban environments.

Rachel Michael, CPE, CHSP, a senior consultant with AON, notes that more than 100 wearable technology devices are marketed has having some safety application. Those applications range from personal gas monitors and GPS location to lone-worker tracking and personal data monitors (i.e., fitness and sl [...]

Dr. Tom Morris spoke on the 7 Cs of Success in the opening session of Safety 2017. The fourth C, "A stubborn consistency in pursuing our vision” seems so simple. Just be consistent, do something every day that gets you closer to your goal, but barriers often abound, as Morris noted. Those barriers i [...]

OSH professionals are always looking out for ways to better communicate with the C-suite. John McBride, national recruiting team leader with Consortium Search LLC has a few ideas, all of which are founded on developing business acumen. He shared those ideas with attendees at ASSE's Safety 2017 confe [...]